Means for removing a lift of sheet material from a stack of such material



p 1955 J. R. SHEA, JR

MEANS FOR REMOVING A LIFT OF SHEET MATERIAL FROM-A STACK OF SUCHMATERIAL Filed May 1, 1957 ATTORNEY United States Patent MEANS FGRREMOVENG A LIFT OF SHEET MA- TERIAL FROM A STACK OF SUCH MATERIAL JamesR. Shea, Jiu, Tyrone, Pa., assignor to West Virginia Pulp and PaperCompany, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application May 1,1957, Serial No. 656,380

4 Claims. (Cl. 214-1) This invention relates to a device for removing alift or pile of sheet material from a stack of such material, and moreparticularly to an air sword utilizing air pressure to facilitateseparation and removal of a ream or other substantial quantity of paperfrom a quantity of stacked paper sheets.

In a typical finishing room operation at a paper mill producing flat orsheeted papers, the sheets of paper out from rolls of paper by rotarycutters or sheeters are filed substantially evenly in large stacks onskids alongside the sheeters, removed by lift trucks for counting andmarking with tags placed between sheets in the stacks to indicate reams,half reams, quires, or other quantities, and delivered to the milltrimmers to be accurately trimmed and squared to the size desired foreach ream or other quantity. Mill trimmers can accurately trim lifts orpiles of paper only up to a limited height, 6 inches in many cases, and,accordingly, it is necessary to divide and separate from each stack fortrimming, successive lifts that can be handled by the trimmers. Theremoval of the lifts from the stacks is commonly performed by a crew oftwo men who do all of such work by hand without the aid of any liftingdevices or tools. Their usual method of operation is for each to grasp alift of the desired quantity on top of the stack and, by jointly pushingor pulling, slide the lift across and off the remaining stack and ontothe adjacent bed of the trimmer. The lifts of paper are heavy, oftenweighing in the neighborhood of 200 pounds each. The work of sliding thelifts is more laborious when the sheets are sticky as is the case withcertain coated papers.

My invention greatly facilitates the removal of a heavy lift of paperfrom the top of a stack of paper by providing a positive air pressurebeneath the lift which tends to reduce the friction between the piles inthe sliding operation. My invention also provides for the making of theinitial and partial separation of the lift from the stack without thenecessity of the trirrmier crew using their fingers for the purpose. Myinvention can be further used to good advantage to blow powder between alift and the stack section beneath it for additional reduction of thefriction between them in the sliding operation and to remove theundesired powder from the lift and the stack section while the lift isbeing removed.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear, and my invention will be easily understood, when the followingdescription and claims are considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings which form part of this specification, and inwhich- Fig. l is a perspective view showing an illustrative air sworddevice constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on a larger scale than Fig. 1, the sectionbeing taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of thearrows;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the air sword device partiallyinserted into a stack of paper; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the air sword device fully insertedinto a stack of paper, and showing a lift being removed from the stack.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of myinvention, an illustrative sword 9 comprises a smooth surfaced hollowblade portion 10 which {is provided with air ports 11a in the top andbottom faces, air ports 11b in the side edges, and air port in the tip.Integral with blade portion 10 is a hollow handle portion 12 which isrigidly connected through pipe 13 to a valve body 14. Pipe 13 is unitarywith valve body 14. A valve handle 15 is provided for regulating theflow of air into the air sword device. Pipe 16, also unitary with valve15, is received by the end of air hose 17 and is fastened thereto byhose clamp 18. Air under positive pressure is supplied from a source notshown to air hose 17.

Preferably the sword blade portion 10 has a pointed tip for easyinsertion into a stack of sheeted paper and is formed of flat sidesjoined by rounded edges as illustrated in Fig. 2 in order that the liftof sheeted paper to be removed can he slid over said blade more easilyduring the removal operation.

The number of air ports in the sword blade portion is not particularlycritical in the operation of the device. It is desirable, however, thatthere be some air ports in each of the side edges and at least one inthe tip end for reasons to be pointed out in the hereinafter describedoperation of the device.

In operating my air sword, the tip end of the device, with a perforatedflat side of the blade in up position, is first inserted into the stackof paper in the desired place as illustrated in Fig. 3. This step can becarried out whether the air pressure into the air sword device is on oroff. This causes a partial separation of the stack into a lift 19 abovethe blade and a stack section 20 below the blade. After insertion of theblade substantially through the stack, the air pressure, if notpreviously turned on and flowing through the blade, is turned on bymeans of handle 15. The jets of air from air ports 11a in the top of thefiat blade are directed against the bottom of lift 19 and tend to liftthat pile on a cushion of air. The jets of air from air ports 11b in theside edges of the blade are directed laterally in both directionsbetween lift 19 and stack section 20 and tend to separate these pilestoward their outer edges. While air under pressure is being so expelled,lift 19 is removed as shown in Fig. 4 by sliding it manually in alateral direction over, across and beyond the blade between the pilesand over, across and beyond remaining stack section 20 to the adjacentbed of the trimmer, not shown. The cushion of air between the pilestends to lighten the weight of the lift and reduce the friction betweenit and the remaining stack section which greatly facilitates the slidingoperation.

The amount of air pressure to be used can be easily determined by simpleexperimentation. I have operated the air sword successfully upon avariety of grades of paper at pressures from 20 p. s. i. to 50 p. s. i.depending upon the weight of the lift to be removed and the degree offriction to be overcome in the sliding operation.

The valve for regulating the flow of air through the air sword need notbe incorporated as part of the device but can .be located at or near thesource of air supply.

The air sword device of my invention can be used advantageously withtalcum powder or other powdery material for more easily removing liftsof certain coated papers from stacks of such papers. Sheets of somecoated papers have a tendency to stick together. Also, coated papers,being generally smoother than uncoated papers, present more extensiveand intimate surface contact between sheets, and this increases thefriction to be overcome in the sliding operation. This friction can bere- 3 duced' by using the jet' of-air issuing from air port 110 in thetip of the blade of my air sword device to blow talcum powder from thehand of the operator or from a container into the place of partialseparation of the piles where it is further dispersed laterally betweenthe pilesby jets of air from-air ports 11b in the side edges of theblade.

These same lateraljetsof'air serve to blow away and remove the powderfrom the lift and the remaining stack section as the lift is beingremoved.

While a certain preferred embodiment of my invention has beenillustrated anddescribed in detail, it is to be understood that changesmay be made therein and the invention embodied in other structures. Itis not therefore my invention to limit the patent to the specificconstruction illustrated, but to cover the invention broadly in surethrough the hollow blade towards its pointed end 25 and to and throughthe air ports.

2. A tool for removing a heavy lift of sheeted paper from a stack of'sheeted paper-comprising a hollow handle, a hollow, smooth-surfaced,flat-sided blade extending from the handle to a pointed end, said bladebeing provided with a multiplicity of air ports, and air supply meansconnected to the handle for delivering air under pressure through thehandle and through the blade towards its pointed end and to and throughthe air ports.

3. The tool of claim 2 in which the "flat sides of the blade are joinedby rounded edges, air ports are provided in said rounded edges, and atleast one air port is pro-:

vided in the pointed end of the blade.

4. The tool of claim 3 in which a regulating valve is 7 provided at thehandle for controlling the flow of air to and through the air ports inthe blade.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSBackhouse "A r. 25, 1939 2,493,252 Langley Jan. 3, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTSl Great Britain June 2, 1954 TJNTTTn STATES PATENT oTTTcT CERTHHQATE @i'C@RRE CTIN Patent Noo 2354 150 Sega-enter 30, 1958 R0 Shea It is herebycertified that error appears in the printed specification of the above"numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patentshould read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 23, for "filed" read piled 301mm? J3 line 1/3 forinvention" read intention Signed and sealed this 3rd day of February195% (SEAL) Attest:

KARL AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSQN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

